Karma Rose

My Secret Thoughts
2020-12-25 23:44:27 (UTC)

Chickens and Kitties

Dear stranger,

It is rainy today- my favorite times of the year. They're the days that are rare in California that I get the opportunity to stand in the rain, feeling the droplets hit my skin cooling my body down and get to stick my tongue out to see if any droplets are going to be consumed in my body.

My uncle came over to say goodbye to us since he's leaving to go live in Mexico now. When he saw me, he told me he wouldn't have recognized me if he saw me in public since I've grown up a lot since the last time he saw me (he last saw me when I was 12-years-old I believe). He was reminiscing some old memories of walking through our ranch and seeing my kid writing on certain cages warning my dad's friends that certain poultry were "NOT FOR SALE" lol. Everyone was teasing me telling me that they'd pay $200, $400, $500 and I'd be like, "NOPE. NOT FOR SALE." I'd warn my dad not to sell my poultry that I grew since they were chicks (that my dad agreed were mine) and he didn't. I had an asil [$250] in the beginning of it all, and he's name was Patrick. My uncle thought I was adorable, and when I went over to his ranch when I was younger, he gifted me a male and female black jap [$450] from a good lineage! I sold Patrick. Started breeding my black japs and there were so many that I was basically known for my black japs! My dad brought the buyers and I got a cut of the profits; which now I realize my dad was ripping me off since he was giving $10 for each one that was sold and he basically kept the rest for himself. *sigh* I'll take that as though it was going into my rent or something. I began getting less interested in that industry (I don't even want to go into specifics really since it's a little illegal) and just gave my black japs to my dad. My siblings and I aren't really interested in what my dad does for a hobby anymore- Nathan kinda wishes that my dad could just stop that hobby all together. There was this virus that was going around two years ago (Yikes. It felt like it only happened recently.) called virulent newcastle disease which was highly contagious among poultry that is extremely deadly to chickens. It first started with a quarantine. Then the state veterinarian ordered that they kill off all the poultry in the most serious areas in order to control the disease (I lived in one of the more serious areas). They came to our house two years ago (when I was 18-years-old) and killed every single one of our poultry. All the eggs were gone. All the chicks were gone. Everything was gone. Then there was silence. They paid for what they killed, but not for the price that they were worth- that's for sure- it was the government so you know how that goes. There was nothing wrong with our poultry- not a single one of them died due to the virus and I was angry about that! I remember thinking "if there was a disease as deadly as virulent newcastle disease but among humans that I bet they wouldn't be so cruel... and I fucken hate that..." When they left our home, I went to the backyard and noticed they missed a hen with her eggs- I pretended like I didn't see a thing. Nathan was happy for sure since it seemed to be the end to my dad's hobby.I moved out to an apartment close to my university a few months after that. Stayed there up to March of this year when the pandemic started getting serious, moved back home and there it was, more poultry slowly growing in number. Now, I hear the sounds that I am all to used to every morning.

I've been feeding the stray cats for a while now and I hope one day, they'll trust me enough to let me pet them- I won't hold my breath though. In total, there are 8 cats and recently, I saw a kitten (about 4-5 weeks old) eating with the adults. There were two kittens before though that I saw sticking their heads out from the fense. Every time I see them, I just wanna grab them, take them home and take care of them. My parents would kill me if I bring a kitten home though. I already have Oreo. Of course, I have my own concerns- this kitten probably has fleas that I don't want to expose Oreo to and they would be an awful influence to Oreo (I'm kidding). Every time I'd try to get close to the kitten, she'd run away terrified- how could I take this terrified, little kitten from her family? This kitten would probably resent me and not make things easy if I brought it home. Oreo was a lot easier because she was only two-weeks-old when I got her with her eyes barely opening and crawling VERY slowly everywhere she went. Oreo isn't afraid of humans (not even strangers) and Oreo is the curious kind where if a stranger came into our house, she'd go up to them smelling them, touching them and letting them pet her. The second kitten worries me since I haven't seen it in a while. Chase told me that our dog killed a kitten where all the poultry were- it was a black kitten (it looked kinda gross). I'm worried that that second kitten might have gotten killed too. There's a history of our poultry being killed by cats, but with the dog, it prevents such things from happening anymore. I'll try to support the kittens/cats in whatever way that I can by feeding them and giving them water- I'm going to see if I can install some-kind of shelter for them to retreat to. This is all I can really do since my family doesn't want anymore cats. An animal shelter is out of the question- animals that are sent to the shelter who are feral/not-adoptable or aren't adopted after a certain amount of time are euthanized... I don't want that to happen and I kinda like watching them eat and drink water. :)

Well, today I slept for a good 8-hours- not bad! I did the usual stuff: read, studied, sweat, and enjoyed the rain hitting my body. I ate meat, salsa, rice, some juice, and a hella of a lot water. That's all I really have to say for today! Until tomorrow!

From yours truly,
Karma Rose

P.S. Happy Christmas Eve!




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